Africa...it never ceases to amaze me.
We woke up this morning ready for an adventure. Our
plan for the day was to visit our first remote village. But the ladies woke up
to the washer leaking all over the kitchen, dining room...and foyer. Who knew
water front property would be so easy to come by here in Manakara, Madagascar.
We attempted to manage the problem ourselves, but ended up leaving the problem
in the hands of our awesome guard, Ligo (Lee-goo).
Once we finally got on the road, it was about a
25-30 minute car ride on a beautiful, curvy road through the country side. We
saw a few villages that were visible from the road. It was nice to see a
more rural side of Madagascar. I'm sure you're wondering why I titled this blog
"B.Y.O.B." It's because we literally had to bring wood to build our
own bridge. To get to this specific village, there's a bridge that is
apparently broken more often than not. If you want a guarantee to cross the
bridge, bringing your own wood to fill the gaps is necessary. We came prepared.
However, the bridge was fixed and we didn't have to use the wood we brought.
Praise the Lord. But it would have been an experience!
After crossing the bridge, we drove about 10 more
minutes and parked on the side of the road. Time to walk. We walked about a
mile before we came to our first stop. It was a beautiful walk through hills,
rice paddies and other villages. At our first stop, we all were invited into
the house of a Malagasy family. After we all piled in, there were about 10-12
people in a 6x8 foot hut. Our supervisor, Jeremy, gave a short message from the
Bible. They were so eager to hear from the Bible, and wanted more after the
lesson had ended. I suppose word spread that we were there because more people
kept arriving every few minutes. And each time someone else came into the hut,
we stopped, all shook his/her hand and then prayed. They were all believers,
and it was wonderful to meet more of our family in Christ and spend some time
with them. By the time we left, there were 19 people in this little home.
It was a humbling experience. In our eyes, these
people don't have much. But to them, they have everything they need. Most
importantly, they have Jesus. But, they also have each other and they only
desire what they NEED to survive. They didn't have a comfy couch to offer, or a
cold drink. But they offered us what they had: a roof to sit under, amazing
coffee sweetened with raw sugar cane, wonderful company, and a warm, welcoming
smile. One of the women, Flojin (Flo-zeen), had four boys. She had an infant,
about a month old, in her arms and we met two of her other boys. One of the
boys was sick with a fever and inexplicable pain in his bones. This little boy,
who looked the age of four, was six years old. He was malnourished, and in
pain. You could see it in his face. He laid in my lap the entire visit. Such a precious
little boy, I didn't want to let go. So if you could all pray for this family,
and this little boy. Pray for their health. Pray that they are given strength
and a joy and peace that surpasses understanding.
We left there after about an hour or so. We walked
maybe another half mile to our next stop. We brought our own food, which
consisted of enough rice, beans, potatoes and tomatoes to feed the team, our
supervisor, two translators, and the family of the house we visited. Some of
the family from the previous home walked with us over to the next hut.
When we first arrived, one of the men climbed a very tall coconut tree
(maybe 20") and smacked down 4 coconuts and then chopped them open for us.
It's no surprise that Kai and Matt had to attempt such a task. That
gave everyone a laugh, they did great though. The women cooked the food we
brought to PERFECTION, and served it to us in her home. She was such a
sweet woman. All the adults sat inside in a circle, with the food in the
middle. She sat in the circle with us, serving us until we were full. Then she
served herself, and the children outside, what we didn't eat. After eating and
visiting a little more, we were off to our next stop...Victor's.
We had heard about Victor from Jeremy and Bill
Mitchell for months before we even left for Madagascar. We were so excited to
meet him. Victor was one of the first village people to come to Christ. When we
met him, you could just see the joy of Christ beaming from his eyes. The love
of Christ was so apparent in the hearts of the people in that village, despite
the fact that Islam was the predominate faith there. Jeremy shared a message to
us and the people there from John 15, verses 1-5. Afterwards we all sang a hymn
in Malagasy. Our team didn't know what were were singing and mumbled through
it. But we knew we were all praising the Lord together, and that's what
mattered. We asked Victor what we could pray for, for him and the people of the
village. He asked us that we would pray that they would have the strength to
continue to spread the Gospel and that more people would come to know Christ.
If you all could please be praying for Victor and this village with that
specific prayer request in mind. We didn't stay long. It was about a 45 minute
visit, and we were off again.
It was coming to the end of our day and there was
still a 2 mile walk back to the car.
Today was a very big day. So many firsts. We saw
parts of Madagascar we hadn't seen before, and we met more of our family in
Christ. I think I can speak for the whole team when I say that today ignited a
sense of urgency and excitement within us for this mission. We loved today, and
CANNOT wait for more days like this! Please continue to pray for us. That we
will always be sensitive to the Spirit. That God would grant us wisdom and
discernment to see the hearts of these people. And that we will grow closer to
the Lord individually, as well as a team.
In Him,
Dannielle
No comments:
Post a Comment